We all know some guns are not beeing used very often because they are too weak, a solution to this problem is giving the low damage guns like SMGs and Pistols the option to get deadlyer bullets for about 4-5 supply points.

Keep in mind that many of the less commonly used weapons (Like the SKS and M16A2 /A4) are also incredibly inexpensive, and still 2HK. Also it's worth note that the Mosin Nagant and M24 already have AP ammunition by default.

It's worth pointing out that in INS2, AP ammunition was a destructive must-have addition to the meta that completely negated armor to such a degree that not using it was effectively gimping oneself. Even free pistols like the makarov could effectively be turned into primary weapons due to the hyper-lethality of AP rounds. In reality, even the most expensive 9x18 rounds aren't punching through a steel or ceramic trauma plate rated for rifle calibers.

As far as shots to kill, many of the weapons currently used are 2 to 1 hit kills, with exception to pistols, SMGs, and some variance as far as shotgun spread goes. Enemies in armor don't really change shots to kill either, with light armor usually only buying a few extra pistol rounds, and heavy armor only buying a player one extra shot against a FAL or EBR, and that's coming at a pretty considerable hit to mobility and three points that could be put elsewhere.

If nothing else, I'd personally keep shots to kill the same for all the armor except no-armor. All weapons would have STK reduced by 1 unless already at 1. This would both make high mobility play even more hardcore and dangerous, while adding a marginal amount of viability towards armor so that it isn't viewed as the handicap it currently is. It would also make inexpensive weapons like the AKM or M16s even more viable without having to fundamentally change their handling, or adding a must-have item that overrides a weapon's damage model and negates armor altogether.

@Zayzek The entire point of @Goat-Walrus response was that it's possible to get back the feel you're missing from previous games without bringing back the stupid meta of AP rounds. It's possible to make guns more lethal without requiring everyone to spend 2-3 supply points every game to get that experience.

It's also unrealistic. Pistol caliber AP rounds simply are not effective. The weapons are weaker because the cartridge is weaker, there's no getting around that without bending reality. Luckily these weapons tend to make up for low damage with high rates of fire and good controlability.

The only weapon I'd give AP rounds would be the UZI, after the removal of it's drum mags there's not much reason to use it over the MP5/AKS-74u, or change it to the smaller variants with faster fire rates

In Insurgency 2014 everybody used AP ammo because both standard and HP ammo weren't viable, which is simply bad game design. Restricting AP ammo to certain weapon types is actually one of the better decisions that was made in Sandstorm.

Making low caliber rifles one-shot enemies without armor would be a good way to balance things out, since both these rifles and light armor are pretty underused. There isn't really much use for equipping light armor now because it only helps against pistols and SMG's, which are both quite rare. However, if light armor would let you take an extra hit from low caliber rifles, it would become a more viable option.

Devs wanted to be rid of the AP meta, but in their haste and ignorance they failed to recognise that the AP meta let you use any weapon and have a good time, now with no AP ammo you can try and use what you like and get fucked by meta whores or you can use what is the meta with the fastest ttk.

Devs wanted to be rid of the AP meta, but in their haste and ignorance they failed to recognise that the AP meta let you use any weapon and have a good time, now with no AP ammo you can try and use what you like and get fucked by meta whores or you can use what is the meta with the fastest ttk.

This man understands. 100%.

Was AP ammo unbalanced? Probably. A Makarov doing more damage than a FAL when firing AP at someone's chest sounds like bad game design, but fucking hell that shit was fun. You could use a fucking six-shot revolver and clean house with it. Sure, I feel like there's probably a better way to implement that kind of lethality without requiring 2-3 points for AP, but Sandstorm just doesn't do it justice.

Also, you didn't really need AP ammo. Most guns were solid without it, and since there was no limb penetration system, getting shot in the arm was an instakill 99% of the time and leg shots weren't too far off. People also seem to forget that HP existed, as that would let you one-tap someone to the leg or arm with any and every gun in the game, and armor doesn't protect you from a leg shot.

In Insurgency 2014 everybody used AP ammo because both standard and HP ammo weren't viable...

I disagree. I've done work without needing AP ammo; it just helps quite a bit. Still, most 5.56 rifles take down a target with 3-4 chest shots, and that's assuming Heavy Armor. Also, you could pull some dumb shit with HP ammo. There's basically no point in loading HP into an assault rifle or battle rifle, but it was an extremely good damage multiplier for pistols and SMGs (i.e. spraying someone's legs down with an MP5k with HP).

It speaks volumes when even with dead development thats been stagnant for the better part of the last 12 months if not longer, you still see passionate people posting, wanting the game to have a spark of life to revitalise and renew their interest.

@Depleted I don't really know what to think with NWI anymore. There have been some good changes since I've last played, but Frenzy still has the same old problems as before. Task Force 666 is considerably more enjoyable, though, and I think it should just outright replace Frenzy since the Vampirism mutator allows you to kinda bypass a lot of the bullshit.

As for damage, I doubt it'll ever really be reworked. Hopefully, there'll be some kind of mutator that actually copies the exact damages from Ins2014 and adds in HP/AP ammo with the same damage values and damage multipliers. I think something like that would be insanely popular. But you're right; instead of AP ammo being the meta, it's now only a few choice guns that are the meta, like the FAL, SVD or VHS-2. It sounds stupid to say that you could be a tryhard in Ins2014 with an M9, but now everyone sweating on Sandstorm uses about 10% of the total weapons in the game.